Security and privacy

Joint letter: Ban security and surveillance facial recognition
Joint letter: Ban security and surveillance facial recognition 19 December 2019 Various

The Observatoire des Libertés Numériques and 80 organisations, including APC, signed this joint letter calling on the French government and parliament to ban any present and future use of facial recognition for security and surveillance purposes.

Joint statement for the protection of digital rights defenders
Joint statement for the protection of digital rights defenders 17 December 2019 Various

The undersigning civil society organisations express concern over the global trend of persecuting digital rights defenders, including security researchers and trainers who act to protect and promote human rights, and demand protection of their work and their recognition as human rights defenders.

Feminist Tech Exchange: Safety Reboot Curriculum
Feminist Tech Exchange: Safety Reboot Curriculum 15 December 2019

FTX Safety Reboot is a collaborative effort between APC Women's Rights Programme and a global network of trainers, writers and activist allies that seek to root feminism and care into digital security training.

Africa in the crosshairs of new disinformation and surveillance schemes that undermine democracy
Africa in the crosshairs of new disinformation and surveillance schemes that undermine democracy 13 December 2019 Daniel Mwesigwa

The tools and tactics of these operators, who are mostly non-African, are increasingly undermining democracy and respect for human rights in Africa, as they enable mass surveillance and disinformation that manipulates and undermines political discourse. 

A call to action to defy internet shutdowns and suppression of political opinion online
A call to action to defy internet shutdowns and suppression of political opinion online 05 December 2019 GreenNet

GreenNet, the ethical internet service provider that has been connecting people and groups since 1986, suffered a DDoS attack on 22 and 23 November 2019. Forensic examinations revealed that the attack was targeted at an organisation publishing new research that weekend.

APC statement at the Intersessional Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group on ICTs: Engaging all stakeholders to enhance capacity-building efforts
APC statement at the Intersessional Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group on ICTs: Engaging all stakeholders to enhance capacity-building efforts 04 December 2019 APC

From APC’s perspective, we feel it’s important to integrate cybersecurity in our broader work on internet governance capacity building, because cybersecurity touches on so many other areas of internet governance.

APC statement at the Intersessional Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group on ICTs: Creating a cyberspace based on rules, laws and norms
APC statement at the Intersessional Meeting of the Open-ended Working Group on ICTs: Creating a cyberspace based on rules, laws and norms 02 December 2019 APC

This statement focuses on responding to the question: How can non-governmental stakeholders contribute to the implementation of the voluntary non-binding norms of responsible state behaviour contained in the report of the 2015 Group of Governmental Experts?

Why cybersecurity is a human rights issue, and it is time to start treating it like one
Why cybersecurity is a human rights issue, and it is time to start treating it like one 28 November 2019 Deborah Brown and Anriette Esterhuysen

Efforts to bolster cybersecurity often ignore the human rights dimension, or worse, view human rights as an impediment to cybersecurity. This is a dangerous and misguided assumption. Cybersecurity is a human rights issue, and it is time to start treating it like one.

Global Information Society Watch 2019 - Artificial intelligence: Human rights, social justice and development
Global Information Society Watch 2019 - Artificial intelligence: Human rights, social justice and development 28 November 2019 Various

While pointing to the positive use of AI to enable rights in ways that were not easily possible before, this edition of GISWatch highlights the real threats that we need to pay attention to if we are going to build an AI-embedded future that enables human dignity.

New law holds promise for improved data governance in Kenya
New law holds promise for improved data governance in Kenya 27 November 2019 CIPESA

Following a seven-year, windy journey, on 8 November 2019, Kenya got a data protection law. The Data Protection Act, 2019 has various positive elements and can go a long way in addressing the live issues in protecting the privacy of data in Kenya.

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